JEDDAH: Bahrain Air, a private national carrier located in Bahrain and the first premium service carrier with affordable fares operating within MENA countries and to the Indian Subcontinent, opened its general sales agent (GSA) office at Nakheel Center here last night. Elaf Aviation is Bahrain Air’s GSA for western Saudi Arabia.
“We are strengthening our presence in Jeddah with our weekly three services, which will be expanded to a daily service later this year,” Ibrahim A. Al-Hamer, managing director of Bahrain Air, told a meeting of travel agents and mediapersons at the Elaf Aviation’s office.
Elaf Group of Companies’ President and CEO Ziyed Bin-Mahfouz, Deputy CEO Tarek Nabulsi, General Majed Kaki, and Bahrain Air’s regional Country Manager Abraham K. Cherian, participated in the cake cutting ceremony that marked the opening.
Al-Hamer said the 15-month-old “affordable” airline with Economy and Premium classes had plans to operate to Riyadh. Its major destinations include Kochi and Kozhikode in India, Katmandu, Dubai, Alexandria, Damascus, Abu Dhabi and Beirut. “We will be operating to 26 destinations by the year-end. We are studying the prospects of operating to Dhaka, Chittagong, Karachi, Lahore, Addis Ababa and a host of other destinations.
“Our airline comes in between a low cost and full-fledged airline,” Al-Hamer said, adding that the airline did not believe in price war to meet the current global slowdown in passenger traffic. “We will strategically deal with situations as they develop.”
He also mentioned that one of the strategies is to make available charter flights for groups, especially Umrah and Haj groups.
